V.T. Subramania Pillai aka V.T.S. (11 December 1846 – 17 April 1909) was a scholar of Tamil music in India. He published books containing more than 1,100 songs of Thirupugal (Tiruppukal or Tiruppugal). Early life V.T. Subramania Pillai was born in a family of devoted servants of Lord Murugan, in Chingleput on 11 December 1846, to Sri Tanikachalam and Smt Lakkumi Ammal, of Rishi Karuneegar sect and Gautama gotra. It was a Friday and the star was Uttira. His grandfather Karpagam Pillai was an ardent devotee of Lord Murukan at Tiruttani, and it is said that Lord Murukan had guided him through dreams on several occasions. He started his education in 1857 in Chingleput Mission School. Lack of funds for further studies saw him as teacher in the same school on a salary of Rs.8/- in 1863. On the advice of Mr. Miller, a professor in Chennai (who remained a well wisher of V.T.S. throughout his life), V.T.S. continued his studies in Chennai after topping the Mackintosh Scholarship examination. He completed F.A. and became a teacher in Mr. Miller's school, on a salary of Rs.40/-. Later life Due to health problems, V.T.S. wished to move out of Chennai. Moreover, teaching was not his choice. Whenever he visited his parents in Chenglepet, he had to walk the entire distance of , because there was no rail train in those days, and his poverty did not allow him to hire a vehicle. At that time, Judge Hudson of Manjakuppam (Cuddalore), impressed by the hand-writing of V.T.S., offered him the second English Writer's post in his court in 1870. Thereupon he passed all the examinations to qualify for the post of a district munsif. After a long wait of eight years, he was appointed munsif of Cuddalore. Subsequently he moved to different places such as Tiruvallur, Namakkal (1888), Kumbakonam (1892), Tirutarupoondi (1894), Madurai (1897) and Manamadurai (1899) and retired in the year 1901. Life style and personal traits V.T. Subramania Pillai was from his early days very devoted to Tamil and the Tamil God Murukan. Wherever his job took him, he made it a point to visit as many temples nearby as possible. He had visited 176 out of the 274 pātal perrat talankal, which are holy places whose glory has been sung by the great saints Tirujñānasampantar, Tirunāvukkarasu and Sundarar, as early as the 7th century. His wish however was to spend